Alien Mercenary’s Destiny by Mina Carter

8

She’d fought for her life in the pits for five long years, so violence was nothing new to Zad. Neither was killing.

In the pits it was kill or be killed and she’d long since moved past any guilt or shame over it. That was not her burden to bear but belonged to the beings who created the system that allowed the slave pits to flourish. But these assholes were something else.

Her lip curled back from her teeth as she dispatched the last one still standing to meet its maker and let the body drop at her feet. These assholes didn’t provide fighters for the pits but specialized in children instead. As far as she was concerned, death was too easy an out for them.

“Fucking chilids,” Zero spat on the corpse as they stepped over it, leaving no doubt that he shared Zad’s view on them.

Talon… no, Beauty, she corrected herself, brought up the rear, his expression implacable. She hadn’t expected the Seratovian to fight in humanoid form, but he had and she couldn’t work out what was scarier—the fact he could shift to a near thousand-ton draekon, or the fact he was just as dangerous with an assault rifle in his hand as he was breathing fire. No wonder he’d been a pit champion. He had a darkness and danger in him that had nothing to do with his ability to shift form. He was a predator through and through, like Eric.

A shiver rolled over her skin. Eric. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around what had happened. How the slender, soft scientist had become the rugged, heavily muscled mercenary. But shards, the change was as hot as vaark. She had only intended to calm him down in the corridor, but then he’d kissed her and her ability to think had just… switched off. Gone. Poof. For a female who’d had to think on her feet and keep her wits about her for her entire life, it was as scary as fuck.

And she wanted him to do it again. The loss of control scared her. The thought of surrendering to anyone, to Eric, and allowing them to see her with her defenses down, scared the breath out of her… but the idea of never having him kiss her again scared her even more and not just because he had called her armor but because she… Yeah, he was the sexiest male she’d ever seen and she craved him on a level that should be illegal. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

Perhaps because her mind was filled with thoughts of Eric and the way he’d kissed her, the memory of his hard, carved body pressing hers against the corridor wall, she missed the way the next chilid she stepped over twitched.

“Watch out!” Beauty called out, but the chilid had already stabbed upward. Its talon sliced the side of her thigh, and her leg buckled, fire like acid following the cut. Vaarking things had poison on their claws.

She went down on one knee, clutching at the wound, with a dull roar in her ears. It wasn’t until Eric thundered past her, grabbing the chilid and lifting it bodily to slam it against the wall behind that she realized it was a bellow of rage. The human’s back tensed, his massive arms bulging. The chilid’s spine snapped with a crack like dry, splintering wood that echoed from the walls around them.

Eric dropped the body, already turning so his gaze sought hers. A second later he was at her side, already shrugging out of his shirt to wrap it around her leg.

“Put pressure on it,” he ordered, his voice hard with command as he shoved her hands into place. The shirt went around her leg twice before he tied it off.

“It’s okay. It’s just a scratch,” she said, but his expression was hard. Tight.

“Seriously, I’ve been injured way more in the past. I’m fine.” She smiled and tried to stand, but the leg wasn’t cooperating. Losing her balance, she fell against his chest.

“Like fuck you are,” he growled and scooped her up against his chest.

“Zad? You okay, hun?” Eris asked, her voice emanating from the speakers on her suit as she clumped over. Fin and the other two were heading off to secure the compound.

“Yes.”

“No,” Eric overruled her. “She got sliced by one of these asshole spider creatures. I’m gonna take her back to the ship.”

“It’s just a scratch,” she growled in the back of her throat, shoving at his shoulder, but the look he shot her, full of heated warning, dried her words up in her throat.

Eris nodded. “Zero already let T’Raal know. Red’s going to bring the ship down just outside the northern wall. We’ll clean up here. Go,” she ordered, already turning away.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Zad hissed, her arms tightening around Eric’s neck as he walked them through the scattered bodies and out through the gap Zero had blasted through the wall to get them in.

“I did. You’re hurt. You need medical attention.” His jaw worked as he walked, long strides taking them around the perimeter wall of the compound to where the Sprite waited. Sparky stood near the boarding ramp as it lowered, machine gun in hand.

“She doing okay?” he called out as soon as he saw them, his face filled with concern. While she thought the human was a crazy vaarker, he did seem to genuinely care about the rest of the crew… even while he was alternately flirting with them or driving them crazy.

“She will be,” Eric said tersely, leaping up onto the still-moving ramp with ease even with her in his arms.

Sparky’s eyes widened. “Fuck me, I gotta get that DNA upgrade.”

“Did you know you could do that?” she asked as he carried her inside the ship, heading straight for the medical bay. Despite her protests she was glad he was carrying her.

Her leg ached and had gone dead, she’d never have made it on her own. Thankfully, the cooler temperatures meant she could slow her circulatory system down and stop the spread of whatever poison had been on the chilid’s talon.

He shook his head, ice-blue eyes catching hers for a second before he ducked his head under one of the support struts that lined the corridors. The Sprite might have been built as a gunship, but space was at a premium, which meant some sections of ceiling were lower to make room for conduits and pipework.

“Finding out a lot,” he admitted in a low voice. “Most is instinctive. Like in the corridor earlier…”

She bit her lip, heat flooding her at the memory. “Kissing me was instinctive?”

He shook his head, heavy boots ringing against the deck plating. “No, I planned on kissing you the moment I realized…”

“Realized what?”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. The instinctive part was when Sparky touched you. No one touches you. You’re mine.”

The declaration was uttered with such conviction and determination a shiver rolled over her skin, heat settling low in her belly and between her legs.

A small smile curved her lips. “Oh, am I now? And you think one kiss makes it so? You think you’re that good, huh?”

A small, wicked smile curved his lips as he ducked his head and carried her into the medbay. As he lowered her down onto the auto-bed, his lips grazed her ear.

“I don’t think. I know. It won’t be one kiss, and it won’t be on your mouth. I have other plans for that. Let’s just say… scientists are very, very thorough.”

Zad was barely able to breathe as Tal fixed her up, easily negating the poison in her system and patching up the physical damage caused by the chilid’s talons. Through it all she chatted to him, but she couldn’t have repeated a word of their conversation, because all her attention was on the big, brooding form of Eric in the corner.

He watched her like a hawk, his lip curling back into a low and dangerous snarl if the other male got too close. The slight smile the medic gave and the way he altered his movements told her he was used to dealing with possessive mates.

She slid another look at Eric. He leaned back against a counter, his muscle-corded arms folded over his massive chest, and her breathing caught.

Was that what they were… Mates? She didn’t know how humans worked that way. Did they mate for life or only take mates for a short while?

Jealousy exploded through her, as hot and acidic as the poison from the chilid’s claws, at the thought of another female touching him. Of him kissing another female. She bit back the agitation in the back of her throat before it could get past a couple of rattles. Even though the sound was soft, Talent looked up quickly, just as Eric stormed across the room.

“Did you hurt her?” he demanded, his voice one step off a murderous snarl as he got between her and the medic.

Instantly Tal took a step back, his hands raised. “No, I don’t think so.”

She sat up, leaning half off the bed to grab Eric’s arm. “He didn’t hurt me, Eric. Calm down, please.”

He backed up against the bed, his back against her front and her legs either side of his hips. One large hand wrapped around her thigh possessively without taking his eyes off Tal.

“Are you done?” he demanded, his entire frame tense.

Tal nodded, his expression carefully neutral and blank as tension mounted in the room. The faceoff was terse, Tal just as armed as Eric was, but if it came down to it, she wasn’t sure which of them would win. Tal appeared to be an experienced mercenary, but Eric’s predatory instincts were off the charts.

“Then leave,” Eric ordered, his voice hard. “Now.”

“Thank you,” she murmured over Eric’s broad shoulder as the medic beat a hasty retreat.

“You need to calm down.” She dropped a kiss on Eric’s shoulder. “No one’s trying to hurt me. Or steal me.”

He shuddered, dropping his head back as she wrapped herself around him.

“I can’t help it,” he admitted roughly, blowing out a hard breath. “I see them near you, looking at you, and rage fills me. I want to tear them limb from limb for even breathing the same air.”

She hid her smile and kissed his shoulder again. He was as possessive as hell.

A warm fuzzy feeling spread out from the center of her chest. She’d never had anyone be possessive over her before and it eased something deep in her soul, the part of her that needed to belong. Even if it was only for a while, she wanted that feeling again.

He turned suddenly and hauled her up against him. She found herself pressed to his harder body, a hard hand at the back of her hips to hold her in place. Automatically she wrapped her legs around him, her now-bare feet against the rough fabric of his combat pants.

He rolled his hips and pressed against her, hot and hard, and her eyes widened. He was… vaark, were all human males built that way? If they were and that knowledge got out, every female in the known systems would head to Earth to grab their very own Terran.

“I want you,” he murmured, lifting a big hand to slide it through her hair. “You’re so beautiful, I fucking ache. All I can think about is getting you into bed, stripping you naked and worshipping every inch of your skin.”

Her soft moan escaped before she could stop it. “Worship, huh?”

Heat filled his eyes, and he nodded, sliding his hand up her back. He rocked his hips against her and then stopped, drawing a small moan of disappointment and loss from her.

“Okay, that answers that.” He smiled as he cupped the nape of her neck, tilting her head back for better access to her lips.

“What?” she murmured, her ability to think compromised. She slid her hands over his bare chest, fanning out her fingers. One of them brushed against the flat disc of his nipple and his lips parted.

“Physical compatibility.” He rocked against her again, pressing right where she needed him. “I’d be a bit of a dick if I kept grinding against you and it wasn’t doing what I thought it was. Wouldn’t I?”

That made sense, somewhere in the back of her head. Perhaps humans and her species weren’t built so differently after all.

“You… I… yeah… scalessssss,” she whispered, her eyes falling half closed as she rocked back against him. “That feelssssss sssso good.”

“That’s so sexy,” he whispered, kissing along her jaw. His stubble scraped her skin, making her shiver. “But we have to move, or I’ll take you right here.”

Her heart leaped, the heat in her veins pooling low in her belly. She had no problems with that whatsoever. Before she could argue, though, he scooped her up in his arms and headed for the door.

“That’s the second time you’ve rescued me,” she murmured as he carried her toward his room. There was no question of her going back to hers. She knew that.

His lips quirked as he paused in front of a door. “At least this time I didn’t do it by making a fool, or a punching bag, of myself.”

“Hey.” Fingers on his chin, she made him look around and at her. “You didn’t make a fool of yourself. You put yourself in danger. For me. No one’s ever done anything like that for me before.”

He studied her for a long moment, as though searching for something in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what, but she hoped he found it. Finally he nodded.

“Last chance to say no. If I get you in my bed, I’m not letting you go. You understand that. Don’t you?”

She couldn’t do anything but nod. Perhaps humans did bond for life? A shiver rolled through her, her scales rustling under her skin.

“Good.”